System to produce drinking water

ABSTRACT

A system for producing drinking water includes an air-condensing device for generating water by condensing moisture contained in air, the air condensing device being disposed in a first case, a purifying part for filtering off impurities contained in the water generated by the air condensing means, the purifying part being disposed in a second case and connected to the air condensing device through a tube, and a water supply part for supplying the water purified by the purifying part to a user. The air condensing device and the water supply part are disposed in separated sets disposed at a difference place.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(a) Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a system for producing drinking water,and more particularly, to a system having indoor and outdoor unitsrespectively installed indoor and outdoor spaces, that can producedrinking water by condensing moisture contained in air to collect water,and by purifying and sterilizing the same.

(b) Description of the Related Art

Generally, as water contamination becomes increasingly sever due to theindustrialization and environmental pollution, it costs a great deal topurify the contaminated water.

Particularly, it is difficult to drink clear water at a local area wheretap water is not supplied. Furthermore, even when the tap water issupplied, there are many limitations in using drinking water in an areawhere water run short.

In addition, in the case of a ship or a warship, taking a passage overthe sea, it leaves with water stored therein or it is equipped with anapparatus for converting seawater into drinking water to obtain therequired water.

The apparatus is for converting the seawater into fresh water using aninverse osmosis phenomenon. That is, the seawater is pumped out by ahigh-pressure pump. The pumped seawater passes through a separationmembrane under pressure higher than the osmosis pressure, in the courseof which salt contained in the seawater is separated from the waterpassing through the separation membrane. The apparatus is also used inan area having relatively small rainfall or in an isolated area such asislands where the residents can live by the water supply.

In addition, since a conventional water purifier is designed to be usedin a state where it is directly connected to a water pipe, it cannot beused in an area where the tap water is not sufficiently supplied.Therefore, it is difficult to drink the fresh water in such an area.

In the case the ship or warship leaves with the stored drinking water,it costs a lot to buy the drinking water. Furthermore, it is atroublesome to perform a water storing work.

In the case there is a need to make a living in the air (outdoor fields)for a long time, it is very difficult to use fresh water unless thefresh water is delivered thereto.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, the present invention has been made in an effort to solve theabove-described problem.

It is an objective of the present invention to provide a system that canproduce drinking water by condensing moisture contained in air tocollect water and purifying and sterilizing the same.

It is another objective of the present invention to provide a drinkingwater producing system that is designed having separated indoor andoutdoor units, thereby providing a convenience in use.

A system for producing drinking water comprising air-condensing meansfor generating water by condensing moisture contained in air, the aircondensing means being disposed in a first case; a purifying part forfiltering off impurities contained in the water generated by the aircondensing means, the purifying part being disposed in a second case andconnected to the air condensing means through a tube; and a water supplypart for supplying the water purified by the purifying part to a user,wherein the air condensing means and the water supply part are disposedin separated sets disposed at a difference place.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an appearance of a drinkingwater producing system according to a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating an inner structure of adrinking water producing system according to a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention; and

FIG. 3 is a view illustrating a drinking water producing procedure of adrinking water producing system according to a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described morein detail hereinafter in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an appearance of a drinkingwater producing system according to a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating an innerstructure of a drinking water producing system according to a preferredembodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a view illustrating adrinking water producing procedure of a drinking water producing systemaccording to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in the drawings, the drinking water producing system of thepresent invention comprises an outdoor unit A and an indoor unit B. Theoutdoor unit A comprises a water generating part 2, a water storing part4 for storing the water supplied from the water generating part 2, apump 6 for pumping the stored water from the water storing part 4. Theoutdoor part comprises a water purifying part 8 for making drinkingwater by purifying and sterilizing the pumped water, and a water supplypart for allowing a user to use the drinking water produced by the waterpurifying part 8.

The water generating part 2 comprises a first case 12 for physicallyprotecting inner components from outer impact, air intake means 14 forintroducing external air into the first case 12, an air filter forfiltering off harmful substances such as particles contained in the airintroduced into the first case 12, and air condensing means 18 formaking water by condensing the fresh water introduced through the airfilter 16.

The first case 12 is provided with an air-introducing hole 20 throughwhich air is introduced, and the air filter 16 is disposed on a rearportion of the air-introducing hole 20. The air intake means 14 isformed of a fan for blowing air while rotating.

The air condensing means 18 is for condensing moisture contained in theair introduced by the air intake means 14, comprising a compressor 22for vaporizing a refrigerant at a high temperature under a highpressure, a condenser 24 for liquefying the vaporized refrigerantcompressed by the compressor 22, an expansion tube (not shown) forlowering pressure of the refrigerant transmitted from the condenser 24,and a vaporizer 26 for vaporizing the refrigerant transmitted from theexpansion tub.

The condenser 24 is disposed on a rear surface of the vaporizer 26 sothat the air introduced by the intake means 14 can be cooled whilepassing through the vaporizer 26 and then passes through the condenser24.

Preferably, the vaporizer 26 is disposed near the rear portion of theair filter 16 and the condenser 24 is disposed near the rear portion ofthe vaporizer 26.

The air filter 16 is formed of a filter paper provided with minute holesor an antibiotic filter, which is generally for an air conditioner.

Disposed on the vaporizer 26 is a waterspout 28 for collecting moisturegenerated by the air that is condensed while passing through thevaporizer 26. The waterspout is connected to the water storing part 4having a water container 30 for storing the condensed water falling intothe waterspout 28.

The condensed water stored in the water container 28 of the waterstoring part 4 is transferred to the purifying part 8 through a tube 31whose length is properly determined in accordance with an installingplace.

The tube 30 can be formed of a flexible hose. A control part 32 forcontrolling the drive of the pump 6 and the compressor 22 is installedin a second case 34 proximal to the purifying part 8.

The purifying part 8 is also provided in the second case 34 to purifythe condensed water supplied through a tube 31. Preferably, thepurifying part 8 is comprised of a series of filters consecutivelyconnected to each other.

For example, the purifying part 8 may be comprised of a precipitationfilter 35, a preprocessing filter 38, a membrane filter 40, and apostprocessing carbon filter 42. However, the purifying part 8 is notlimited to this. That is, any types of filters that can filter outharmful substances such as heavy metals.

The condensed water passing through the filters 35, 38, 40 and 42 isdirected to sterilizing means for eliminating harmful microorganismscontained the condensed water. As the sterilizing means, an infrared raylamp 44 is preferably used.

The purified and sterilized water is directed to a first container 46 ofthe water supply part 10.

In the first container 46, cooling means is installed to lower thetemperature of the water contained in the first container 46. Thecooling means can be formed of a conventional cooling system having acompressor 48, a condenser 50 and a vaporizer 52. Alternatively, thecooling means can be defined by winding a tube of the vaporizer 52around the outer circumference of the first container 46.

The first container 46 is connected to a second container 54 through atube passage to supply the purified water. Furthermore, a heater system(not shown) can be further provided to increase the temperature of thewater contained in the container.

Taps 56 and 58 are installed on the first and second containers 46 and54 in order for the user to use the water contained in the containers 46and 54.

When the water is supplied through the tap 56, the water level of thefirst container 46 is reduced. This is detected by a water level sensor60 installed in the first container 46 and the detected signal istransmitted to the control part 32. The control part 32 controls thepump 6 to pump out the water contained in the water container 30. Thecontrol part 32 can be formed in a conventional design that can controlthe pump 6 by receiving the signal from the sensors.

That is, the control part 32 is further connected to a water levelsensor 62 for detecting the water level of the water container 30 toreceive a signal on the water level. Therefore, the control part 32controls the operation of the compressor 22 to control the production ofthe water.

In the above-described inventive system, the outdoor unit A is installedat an outdoor place as it is designed to generate noise and heat, whilethe indoor unit B is installed at an indoor place. At this point, theunits A and B are connected to each other through a tube 31 withrequired electric wire arranged.

In the water generating part 2, a conventional cooling cycle where therefrigerant is compressed and transmitted from the compressor 22 in thefirst case 12 to the condenser 24, and is then returned to thecompressor 22 via the vaporizer 24 is repeatedly processed. At the sametime, the air is introduced through the air intake hole 20 of the firstcase 12 as the air intake means is operated.

At this point, the air introduced through the air intake hole 20 ispurified while passing through the air filter 16, and the purified airis introduced into the air condensing means 18.

The purified air is heat-exchanged while passing a space defined betweentubes of the vaporizer 26. At this point, since the refrigerant is beingvaporized in the tubes of the vaporizer 26, ambient heat is absorbed bythe vaporizer, as a result of which the purified air passing through thespace defined between the tubes of the vaporizer 26 is condensed.

By this condensing operation, a part of the air passing through the airintake hole 20 is phased-changed into water to fall into the waterspout28. An amount of water accumulated in the waterspout 28 is increased asthe operation is repeated. The accumulated water in the waterspout 28 isdirected to the water container 30.

The water stored in the water container 30 is directed to the indoorunit B along a tube 41.

The water directed to the indoor unit B is purified while passingthrough the filters of the purifying part 8 and the infrared lamp 44 sothat the harmful substances such as heavy metals contained in the watercan be eliminated and the microorganisms and bacteria can be sterilized.

The purified water is directed to the first container 46 and the secondcontainer 54 connected to the first container 46.

The purified water directed to the first container 46 is cooled by theconventional cooling cycle and the purified water directed to the secondcontainer 54 is heated by the conventional heating system.

Therefore, the user can use the cool and hot water by pressing the taps56 and 58. At this point, due to a little use of the water, an amount ofthe water contained in each of the first and second containers 46 and 54is increased, the sensor 60 detects it and transmits the correspondingsignal to the control part 32 to stop the operation of the pump 6.

In addition, when an amount of water being generated is greater than anamount of water being used, the sensor 62 detects it and transmits thecorresponding signal to the control part 32 to stop the operation of thecompressor of the water generating part 2. On the contrary, when anamount of water being generated is less than an amount of water beingused, the sensor 62 detects it and transmits the corresponding signal tothe control part 32 to operate the compressor 22 and the pump 6.

In the above embodiment, although there is only one air condensing means18, plural air condensing means can be provided to obtain a large amountof water if required.

As described above, since the inventive water producing system isdesigned to produce drinking water by collecting water in the air andpurifying the collected water, it can be conveniently used in the shipor war ship that should store a large amount of water moisture or anarea where residents cannot live if there is no water supply.

Furthermore, since the condensing means, the purifying means and thewater supplying part are independently provided, the condensing meanscan be installed at the outdoor place while the purifying means and thewater supplying part are installed at the indoor place.

In addition, as the condensing means, the purifying means and the watersupply part are separated from each other, the condensing means can beinstalled at the indoor place, preventing the interior air from beingdried while quickly producing a large amount of water. Furthermore,since the volume of the indoor unit can be reduced by as large as avolume of the condensing means, the space of the indoor place can besaved.

1. A system for producing drinking water comprising: air-condensingmeans for generating water by condensing moisture contained in air, theair condensing means being disposed in a first case; a purifying partfor filtering off impurities contained in the water generated by the aircondensing means, the purifying part being disposed in a second case andconnected to the air condensing means through a tube; and a water supplypart for supplying the water purified by the purifying part to a user,wherein the air condensing means and the water supply part are disposedin separated sets disposed at a difference place.
 2. The system of claim1 wherein the air condensing means is disposed at an outdoor place andthe water supply part is installed in an indoor place.
 3. The system ofclaim 1 wherein the air condensing means comprises a compressor forvaporizing a refrigerant at a high temperature under a high pressure, acondenser for liquefying the vaporized refrigerant compressed by thecompressor, a vaporizer for vaporizing the refrigerant transmitted fromthe condenser through an expansion tub, and a fan disposed on a rearside of the condenser to intake the air; a waterspout for collecting thewater condensed while passing through the vaporizer is disposed underthe vaporizer; and a water container for storing the water supplied fromthe waterspout.
 4. The system of claim 3 further comprising an airfilter disposed in front of the vaporizer to filter off impuritiescontained in the air,
 5. The system of claim 3 further comprising awater level sensor installed in the water container to detect a waterlevel in the water container to control an operation of the aircondensing means in accordance with the water level of the watercontainer.
 6. The system of claim 1 wherein the purifying part comprisesa plurality of filters.
 7. The system of claim 6 further comprising asterilizing lamp for sterilizing microorganisms and bacteria containedin the water is disposed at a downstream end of the purifying part. 8.The system of claim 1 wherein the water supply part comprises a firstcontainer for storing the water purified by the purifying part, a secondcontainer connected to the first container through a tube, and acooling/heating device for cooling or heating the water contained in thefirst and second container.
 9. The system of claim 8 further comprisinga water level sensor installed in the first container to uniformlymaintain a water level of the first container.